Since 1944, The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) has created Administrative Files or “A-files” containing all records of any active immigration case pertaining to foreign nationals not yet naturalized to become US citizens. Without an A-file created during the immigration and inspection process an individual cannot be granted permanent residency or citizenship. These files are housed in storage facilities known as Federal Records Centers (“FRCs”) which are located underground beneath the administration of the National Archives and Records Administration (“NARA”). FRCs are made up of “miles-long networks of man-made limestone caves built beneath the Kansas City metro area” and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FRCs have been either temporarily closed or operating under limited capacity to ensure the safety of workers. In fact, The Wall Street Journal reported that NARA said in a statement that it has kept staff levels at 25% at its Kansas City facility because it is “an area of high transmission.”
Because naturalization adjudication has “historically rested on the principle that the A-file is required for the applicant's naturalization interview,” the FRCs’ limited operations have put some citizenship applications on hold as applicants’ files are locked away at the Kansas City records center. As requests for immigration histories from USCIS have gone unanswered, a backlog has built up. Processing times for naturalization applications have grown “from an average of nine months in 2019” to the current estimate of approximately one year. The issue has only recently been brought to light because as a rule, applicants are not allowed to inquire about the status of their cases with USCIS until their cases have remained pending past the reported processing time.
Representative Ted Budd (R-NC) sent a letter to the White House and the Archivist of the United States in November 2021 urging them “take necessary and immediate action to reopen the Federal Records Centers (FRCs) in the Kansas City, Missouri area to full operations as quickly as possible.” Rep. Budd pointed out the “continued diminished operational capacity has wrought significant consequences and slowdowns on the efficacy and speed of our nation’s legal immigration system.” He goes on to specify that before the COVID-19 pandemic an average of 62,000 A-files per month were provided to USCIS by the Kansas City FRC. Currently, due to the pandemic that number has decreased to approximately 11,000 files being provided to USCIS on a monthly basis. This is not enough to reduce the ever-increasing backlog: as of September 2021, USCIS “had approximately 327,000 A-file requests pending with the Kansas City area FRCs.”
As the Omicron variant continues to spread throughout the US and disrupt businesses everywhere, we remain in a holding pattern to see how soon federal agencies can tackle the bureaucratic backlogs created as a result of closures due to the pandemic.